


Home is where the heart is

by Earth Worm (Tiny_Cactus), Tiny_Cactus



Category: Minecraft (Video Game), Video Blogging RPF
Genre: 5undy come get y'alls juice, Angst, Childhood Friends, Floris | Fundy-centric, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Tags May Change
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-21
Updated: 2021-02-03
Packaged: 2021-03-12 20:49:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,316
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28891659
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tiny_Cactus/pseuds/Earth%20Worm, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tiny_Cactus/pseuds/Tiny_Cactus
Summary: Sometimes, Fundy thinks, he wishes he had stayed in Cogchamp. Away from the DSMP, away from war, away from conflict, away from heartbreak.
Relationships: Clay | Dream & Floris | Fundy, Clay | Dream/Floris | Fundy, Floris | Fundy & 5up, Floris | Fundy/5up
Comments: 46
Kudos: 486





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is all purely fiction! Please do not ship real people together thats weird. If Any of the creators have a problem with this I'll take this down, oh and also please don't show them this. That is all.

Sometimes, Fundy thinks, he wishes he had stayed in Cogchamp. Away from the DSMP, away from war, away from conflict, away from heartbreak. Wilbur had sent him there when fundy was able to walk, not wanting to deal with a child in the midst of a revolution. So, away he went, to a land full of machines and inventions that l’manburg could only dream of. 

Raised by strangers who gifted Fundy intelligence to understand these big machines. Raised to ask questions. Raised to want to learn more. His childhood was never with his father, or l’manburg. He received letters from his father as some sort of attempt to make it look like his father did care for him, but they were always short and never really felt like it came from family. Nevertheless, Fundy still replied with enthusiasm, explaining how much he has learned and the contraptions he has built even when the only response his father ever gave him was ‘that's nice’ or ‘how interesting’.

So to say those two had a close family bond would be far from the truth. So, when a letter came on his twelfth birthday telling him to return home as soon as possible, Fundy had been more than confused as to why. 

“You don’t have to leave, you can stay! He can’t just- just force you to leave without so much of a warning! He’s miles away from here, hell, you don’t even call him your father! He shouldn’t have a say on whether or not you can leave or not!” 5up shouted, trying to make Fundy stay. He's heard of what’s been happening at the DSMP, the war that’s been raging on. 5up would be damned if he let his best friend go over there without at least trying to stop him. 

“I- I know but, its- its not a request, Five. Wilbur said I have to and if I don’t he’ll send people here to just take me! I don’t want to leave, you know that. I don’t want to leave you but I don’t want to disrupt the peace here. If some random men just come here in probably armor and just drag me away then- well I’m sure you can imagine what might happen to the people here. Who knows, maybe he just wants to see how his son is doing? A check up and then he’ll send me back on my merry way.” 

“He’s never even come to visit you in the last 10 years! Why would he want you to return now of all the times he could have!” Fundy flinched at this, causing Five to quickly slap his hand over his mouth. Silence seeping into the room.

“Fundy, I- I’m so sorry that was too far I didn’t mean to say that. I’m just- I don’t want you to go Fundy. Please, stay here, in Cogchamp. Stay with me.” Five said, breaking the silence, moving towards Fundy, enveloping in a hug.

“You know I can’t. An order from Wilbur is absolute, no questions asked.” Fundy said, barely above a whisper as they both hung off of each other, neither wanting to let go.

A small sob escaped Fives lips. “I know.”

-  
When the day finally came for Fundy to leave and begin his ride to l’manburg there hadn’t been many tears of goodbye. Having already wept those tears just days ago.

“You better write to me everyday you hear me Fundy? And not like how Wilbur writes to you, because I swear I will go and storm l’manburg, war or not.”

Fundy laughed at that, “I swear to you, I’ll write to you every day. You better reply to me everyday as well! Once Wilbur is done with me I’ll come back, I promise.” 

They both stared at one another still not wanting to part ways, but when the bell rang signaling the time to board the train they knew they could no longer stall. 

“I guess this is goodbye. Take care, Five.”

“Yeah, I guess it really is goodbye. I’m not the one going towards a war, so you’re the one who should take care. We only come back three times after all. See you seen, hopefully.”

A small chuckle passed through Fundys lips at the small comment Five made, giving him a small wave goodbye before he boarded the train.

-

Never having met your father in basically twelve years would make one assume that it would probably be awkward when they first met after all the years, and you’d be correct. Fundy was not looking forward to this meeting at all, especially when you take into consideration that his father was a general of a war that he technically started. He expected for the meeting to be stiff, with his father not really knowing how to approach him. 

So when he felt arms embracing him into a hug he wasn’t really sure how to react, going rigid immediately. 

“Fundy! Its so good to see you, welcome to L’manburg! I hope your travel was well. The walk mustn’t have been pleasant. We don’t have trains like you do in Cogchamp. How have you been?” The man began rambling, spewing so many words that Fundy could barely keep up. The man knew his name, knew he was from Cogchamp, and knew the passage to even meet up with Fundy, so Fundy’s best guess had to be that this man was his father.

The man, Wilbur, still had him in a tight bond, still talking (something about Fundy technically being the first born citizen of L’manburg and how happy he was to see him). Fundy gently lifted his paw in an effort for the man to pause even if it was for just a few seconds.

Thankfully, he got the signal.

“A-ah sorry about that kiddo, your old mans just really excited to m- see you after all these years.” A small slip of the tongue that Fundy caught. 

Meet.

He supposed that would be right, they may be blood related but they barely even knew each other, other than what Fundy’s heard of Wilbur and what he wrote to him. 

Fundy laughed trying to shake off the odd feeling he got. “I’m glad to see you too dad.”

Dad. What a foriegn word to Fundy. 

“You're probably tired, come, let me take you home. We’re still fighting a war so excuse us if its not the best looking place. Welcome back, my little champion.”

Something in Fundy felt a twinge with the nickname. Wilbur barely knew him and yet he started dotting on him as though he was always with him. Nobody dotted on Fundy back at Cogchamp, maybe the feeling was because he just wasn’t used to it.”

He really hopes the dotting will die off soon, hes not a small child after all.

-

Erets betrayal stung, it hurt. Eret had been one of the first to talk to him when he had arrived here two years ago. Eret had been the first to show him around while everyone was skittish around him. Eret had been his first friend when Fundy arrived on a strangers land. He listened to Fundys rambles about Cogchamp when everyone else scoffed and told him that lying wasn’t a good quality to have. 

Eret believed and trusted Fundy, and Fundy thought he was able to believe and trust in him. 

Turns out he couldn’t. 

His father screamed and yelled about this betrayal, calling Eret a traitor. Fundy didn’t want to believe Wilbur. He wanted to believe that his friend didn’t want to kill him since the beginning. That this man, this Dream, had manipulated him and forced him to do it.

Fundy wanted to talk to someone, anyone. But his father barely even looked at him and Fundy didn’t really wish to talk to him. Everyone was still hurting over this betrayal and they already had someone for them but Fundy felt so alone. 

So, he picked up a quill, grabbed a piece of paper and wrote. Wrote to his first friend, to the person who still talked to him, the one who still hoped for him. 

He did not write about the betrayal, about his first almost death. Instead he wrote about the plans Wilbur had been making for the war. About the small redstone contraptions he had built because these people weren’t as advanced as Cogchamp was. Telling him how he felt, the loneliness he felt still being here and not at Cogchamp. Telling him about someone new he met, hoping that he could be able to befriend her so he wouldn’t feel alone. And if his friend noticed that Fundy didn’t bring up Eret in this letter he knew not to mention it.

He wrote how much he yearned to go back home. 

-

Fundy wanted to write. He wanted to write so badly. He hasn’t written in months as the war began to pick up speed. He barely had time to be alone. So if he snuck out in the middle of the night to the forest under his fathers nose, who could blame him? 

He gently sighed as he laid himself by a willow tree. He was so tired. 

He gently opened his notebook and stared. There were barely any resources that weren’t being used for the war, so any ink available was being prioritized for the generals. The same went for quills. 

Bringing up his finger he began drawing out the letters as though he had his ink and quill. Writing an imaginary letter for someone who would never receive it. He wondered if Five still waited for his letters. He wondered if Five still waited for him.

Another sigh escaped him only to be interrupted with the sound of bushes rustling. Immediately he was on edge, quickly closing his book and picking up his sword. Rising quietly from his spot to not alert whoever was in the bush. 

He stared at the bush, waiting for whatever there to expose itself. Fundy expected that perhaps it had been Wilbur to emerge and drag him back, perhaps Tommy telling him how many favors he’d owed him to not tell Wilbur, or maybe another soldier on his father's request to bring him back. So when what emerged had been a rabbit he was both relieved and slightly confused.

“I didn’t know there were rabbits here.” He wondered out loud. 

“There aren’t.” A voice spoke behind him. 

Fundy turned quickly, raising his sword towards the voice. 

“Woah there,” The man said, raising his hands up, “I mean no harm, I’m just here for some quiet, probably like you, unless of course you're here to hunt. If so then you just let that rabbit go.”

He didn’t bring his sword down, eyeing the man just in case. He didn’t seem to be armed, perhaps he had his weapons hidden. As he scanned the man he noticed a mask placed on the man's face. 

A mask? Didn’t Wilbur warn him about someone in a mask? He couldn’t remember, he was tired and didn’t want to fight. Not in the forest when this was meant to be his escape. He slowly dropped his sword down. 

“Who are you?” Fundy questioned. At this the man seemed surprised. 

“You don’t recognise me? I’m pretty sure I’m pretty infamous over on your side of this war.” The masked man replied. 

“I’m too tired to care honestly. You haven’t killed me yet so I couldn’t care less on what side you're on or who you are.”

“Thats.. Fair. Then, you may call me Clay, fox boy.” He said, sitting under the tree patting the spot in front of him in an attempt to incite Fundy to sit as well. 

“Way to state the obvious. Very original.” Its been awhile since he was able to do playful banter. He’s missed it. God, hes so tired. Fighting a war would do that to you though wouldn’t?

Taking up the man’s offer, sitting in front of him.

“Then what should I call you? You haven’t exactly introduced yourself yet.”

“Aren’t we enemies? I don’t think I should be telling you this.”

“I told you mine, fair is fair.”

“I truly doubt that Clay is your real name. If you really are someone that even Wildbur worries about then you’d real stupid to give up your name that easily.”

“You're pretty smart for someone chatting to the enemy like we’re friends.”

“I’ll fight you on the battlefield, not here. Here is where I can run away from the war and relax. Even if it is just for a moment. So I would rather not tarnish that.” Fundy turned towards the sky, staring at the stars and moon. He wonders when the last time he was able to just breathe it all in. 

The masked man stared at him for a while, Fundy didn’t falter under it. He had many stares back in L’manberg. There weren’t many hybrids here like there were in Cogchamp so he stood out like a sore thumb when he had first arrived. Not so much now, there were perks to be a shapeshifter after all.

“Yeah,” Clay spoke, “I guess you’re right. It is a rather beautiful night as well.”

His gaze lingered just a second more before turning towards the stars. 

A comfortable silence took over. A nice calm, almost letting him forget about the raging war. Maybe he could spend more time with this person

“Fundy. My name's Fundy.”

-

The second war came and went. Barely felt like a blink. This war didn’t last as long as the other did, everyone already immediately helping Wilbur and Tommy the moment they had been exiled. 

He's been here for years. 

He was twelve and joining a war that had nothing to do with him just days ago and now he's turning 20 in a few weeks. 

And now his father was dead and an anemic ghost, his friends (could he really call them that? He doubted they saw him as a friend anymore) didn’t trust him, and he hasn’t seen Dream in weeks. His supposed lover was out on missions to protect the new king he crowned, George. 

He's felt alone before, but now he feels as though he has no one. 

‘Maybe there's hope’, he thinks, ‘Maybe the letter wasn’t in vain. Maybe it did reach him.’

A letter he wrote for the first time in years to a friend who may want nothing to do with him (wouldn't be the first to give up on him) or maybe the friend has forgotten about him after all the years that came without ever receiving a letter. 

He wants to run back to his real home, but he knows he can’t. He's not done yet. He can’t just run away like his coward of a father does when he makes mistakes.

He thinks of the blueprints he's made over the years in hopes of when he returned home he would be able to begin working on them. Maybe he only made all those plans because he was afraid of forgetting. Maybe that's why he still makes blueprints for inventions he can’t even make here. So he doesn’t forget what the strangers that felt more family then his father taught him. He wonders if they would still recognise him. Once, he was taught to speak, ask, and learn. Now he is quiet and watches in fear of being used.

Then he hears whispers. Whispers of a strange traveller who arrived just a day ago. Of a plant hybrid with similar claims that Fundy once talked about so many years ago. Fundy felt his breath go short. His hopes were high, he shouldn’t be so hopeful for what could be disappointment. 

But that description reminded him of someone he loved. Someone he cherished after all the years. So when he learned that the stranger was in the town hall he couldn’t help but run as soon as he found out. He ran faster then he has in years because damn it if there was a chance that it was him then he had to take it. 

“Wha- Fundy! Where do you think you're going? You can’t just walk in there!” He heard someone shout, something in the back of his head told him it was Niki, but he didn’t have time. He had to go see the traveller. 

He slammed open the doors to find a man with a helmet that covered his face, with a scarf wrapped tightly around their neck. The man turned towards him and they stared at one another. Both eying each other. And then Fundy saw a small stem protruding out of the helmet. 

A laugh escaped his lips as he felt tears begin to fall. 

God, he's changed so much. Yet so has Fundy. They both look nothing like when they were children.

Neither bodies moved, neither spoke, still taking the sight of each other in. 

“What are you doing here! You know your not allowed in here! Only officials are allowed in-” The scolding voice stops as they take in the atmosphere within the room. They take a look towards Fundy, shocked and so confused. “Are- are you alright? Whats going on?”

The voice goes ignored as Fundy takes a sharp inhale walking towards the plant hybrid before he breathes out a small whisper, “Hi Five” 

Silence over takes them before Five finally speaks out with a shaky laugh, “Hey there Fundy, been a while, hasn’t?” 

Both breaking down catching each other holding one another so tightly. Let cries and tears fall freely as they both clung onto each other, afraid that the other would disappear should they lessen their hold for even a second. 

Its been so long.


	2. Chapter 2

It felt like hours before either were able to calm down, holding each other even after their tears had dried. 

“What are you doing here?” Fundy breathed out, “I thought you hated this place.”

“I do, I despise this place more than anything. They’re senseless wars, the innocent blood they have shed, I hate L’manburg. But.” Five paused, shifting to look Fundy in the eyes before continuing again, “ They had you here, and by the god have I missed you.”

Fundy laughed, “I’ve missed you too. I’ve missed you so damn much.” 

A small cough, “I, um, hate to interrupt but, do you two… know each other?” The forgotten voice said looking between the pair still slightly confused on what was unfolding before her. The pair turn towards her finally giving recognition to the woman. 

“A-ah, sorry about that Niki.” Fundy slowly lifts himself up, still not letting go of the other man. He didn’t want to let go yet. 

“This is 5up. We’re technically old childhood friends. Hes from Cogchamp, the place I talked about back when I had first arrived here. Five this is Niki. Shes…” A friend? No that wouldn’t fit, not anymore, not to her. “The woman I talked about in the letters all those years ago.”

“Niki! A pleasure to finally meet you. I’ve read a lot about you through the letters Fundy sent. He’s always had a knack of writing what he saw. Came in real handy back home.” Niki seemed to go rigid at the mention of Fundy’s writing. Fundy pretended to not notice, and if Five noticed this reaction he wouldn’t bring it up. At least not now.

Fundy’s writing wasn’t seen as handy here, not anymore. 

“Its a pleasure to meet you too, 5up! I had no idea Fundy wasn’t born here. His father always boasted that he, Fundy, was the first born citizen here. I’ve never even heard of Cogchamp before other than the bits and pieces I remember Fundy mentioning all those years ago. I always thought he had been making it up, such contraptions sound almost impossible to be real. He had been a child when I met him.”

Fundy quickly glanced towards Five after Niki had given her talk, seeing confusion grow. 

They didn’t know, he wanted to tell Five, they never believed me since day one. But he couldn’t. That would cause more questions than answers, and if there was one thing that Fundy would never forget from Cogchamp was that the people would always ask questions until they received an answer. 

“I think we should go, Niki. We’re not exactly allowed in here without permission. The hall is meant for new residents or travelers looking for a place to stay, and we really don’t want to mess up any official papers and all. Besides, I just wanted to see who exactly this mysterious traveler was, and I got my answer.” Fundy spoke before Five could. 

“O-oh right”

He turned towards Five, slowly loosening his grip on him. He really didn’t want to let go.

“I’ll wait for you outside the hall, so when you're done we can meet back up immediately. I’ve got so many questions I still have to ask, and I’m sure you do too.” He finally lets go as he gives Five a reassuring smile to let him know he would be willing to wait. 

Five took just a second longer before he too let go, giving Fundy a small nod. “I’ll see you soon then. This time for sure.”

Fundy nods, turning towards Niki before walking towards the doors. Niki walked quickly behind him.

As the doors shut Niki finally spoke up. “I thought you were born here inside of L’manburg.” She didn’t look at him, nor did she stop walking. 

And as Fundy stood by the grand door he gently spoke, barely above a whisper. “I was.” To someone who was already too far to hear, too far to reach.

-

The sun was beginning to set when he finally heard the town hall doors open. Turning towards the doors with a gentle small.

“Have you really been waiting here the whole time?”

“More or less, I didn’t want you to come out to find no one here. Besides, I didn’t have much to do honestly. I did leave here to grab some food but other than that I’ve been here.” 

“Damn, sorry to make you wait so long. L’manburg has way too many papers to sign just to stay here.” 

Fundy barked out a laugh at that, “Guess L’manburg has trust issues. Every time they accepted an outside to come in here a war would start.” 

“Sucks to suck I guess.”

A comfortable silence took over as they began to walk with no particular location in mind, the moon illuminating their path. 

Fundy turned to stare at the sky, taking in the stars before speaking again. “I’m sorry.”

“You don’t have to apologize. You had no control over anything.”

“Still. I should have written more, I should have tried to reach out more. I left you with no sign that I was still even alive.”

“I mean, yeah I guess that would be true. I had been worried sick when I noticed the letters stopped coming, but I didn’t blame you for them. I blamed a lot of things, but never you. If you really did leave me then you wouldn’t have sent the letter after all these years of being left in the dark.” Five lifted his hand, showing off the letter Fundy had sent just weeks prior. He was stunned as he saw it. “You didn’t even know if I still even lived in Cogchamp, for all you knew I could have left yet you still sent the letter. You know, you got lucky. I had been planning on leaving this year too. Until of course I got this in the mail.”

Fundy laughed. “Then I guess Lady Luck is finally on my side.” He paused before continuing, “You were going to leave? Why? Or well, to where?”

“Nowhere in particular, and if you think me leaving Cogchamp or that you messed up my plans by sending me the letter then let me stop you there cause you didn’t.” God, did he really make it that obvious? “I was just planning to wonder until I found a place I could call home. Not that Cogchamp isn’t my home, I just wanted to branch out you know. I wanted to wait longer for you, but I didn’t even know if you were alive. Then the letter came and I just couldn’t wait for you anymore, I would go out and find you myself. Even if it meant stepping foot on the DSMP, even if it meant living here. I just wanted to see you.”

“Well, I’m glad it did reach you. I was terrified that it would never reach you. Believe me when I say I wanted to go back for so long but… I felt like I never could. Like I still had a job to finish here.”

“You know, even though I haven’t seen you in years you haven’t really changed. Sure your appearance changed, like a lot, but I still feel like I can read you like an open book. Take your time, Funds, I’ll be here.” I’m not leaving you again, Five wanted to say yet he bit his tongue, holding onto those words.

Fundy felt as though a weight on his shoulders had been lifted. Weight he didn’t even realize was there. He felt a sigh of relief escape him. Its been awhile since he felt like he didn’t need to prove himself to someone. 

“Do you need a place to stay?” He found himself saying before even realizing it. 

“I was planning on booking a hotel, but as long as I’m not intruding I’ll be willing to take up your offer.” 

Fundy thinks about the big empty house. About the cold empty spot on his bed that never seemed to stay warm for too long. About his fiance miles away.

Yet he couldn’t bring himself to care, he's never felt this warm in so long. He wants to hold on to that heat for just a second longer. 

“No, you wouldn’t be intruding. I am the one offering. I’ll even take you on a tour of the town tomorrow morning.”

He didn’t want to be alone anymore.

“Then I’ll be more than happy to stay with you.”

-

Waking up to shouting wasn’t exactly something he was expecting. Turning towards his clock to see the flashing number. 

9:13am 

Before he could fully grasp his thoughts the yelling started to get louder. He quickly shot up as his memory finally started to catch up with him. That's right, he had invited Five over to his place. But wouldn’t it just have been him and Five? No one else had the key to his place other than-

Dream.

Oh no. 

He quickly bolted from his bed, dressing himself quickly before running down stairs. He had to explain before Dream did something to Five.

Why was he even here? Wasn’t he with George, miles away from here? Of course he would come back in the worst time possible. 

As Fundy finally reached the end of the stairs he was greeted with quite the sight. In Front of him were most definitely Dream and 5up, Dream already having drawn out his axe while 5up stood there with his hands in the air with his calculating eyes, analyzing Dream. The atmosphere was tense and a brawl was sure to happen if he didn’t interfere soon. The two shouting men didn’t even seem to have noticed him. 

“If you don’t tell me who and how you got in here soon then I swear to gods I’ll-”

“D-Dream,” Fundy stuttered out, interrupting Dream, “Dream, its- its okay, put the axe down, this isn’t- he's not- This is 5up he’s an old friend of mine.” That seemed to get both of the masked mens attention, both turning towards him.

“Fundy!” They shouted in unison, Dream rushing towards him while Five stood still sighing in relief.

“Are you alright? Did that guy do anything to you? Do you know who he is?” Dream blurted out, checking Fundy over for injuries. Fundy sighed before giving Five an apologetic smile. 

“Dream, relax, I just said that I did. This is 5up, he arrived here a day or two ago. We’re old friends, and he didn’t exactly have a place to stay so I invited him over, the house is pretty spacious,” Since your never here was left unsaid.

Dream seemed to recoil a bit, having understood the unsaid message. “A-ah, right, um well,” Dream turned back towards Five before speaking again, “We may have gotten off the wrong foot. I apologies, I hadn’t recognized you from any of the normal citizens here. I thought you were a burglar, or something. The helmet covering your face didn’t exactly help.”

Five scoffed, “That's pretty hypocritical of you considering you're also covering up your face, but a friend of Fundy’s is a friend of mine. Next time though, don’t lift your axe when you don’t know the full story. Sorry for waking you so early by the way Funds. I made some coffee if you drink it.”

“Its fine, I hadn’t exactly told you I had another person living here. I just hadn’t expected said person to come home.” A small pause. “What are you doing here, Dream?”

“I uh, I wanted to give you a surprise visit. I know I haven’t exactly been around for a while. Sorry about that, protecting George and all is a bit taxing.”

Fundy hummed as he turned and headed towards the kitchen where the promised coffee would likely be, pouring himself a cup before sitting down at the kitchen. The atmosphere felt awkward and Fundy wasn’t sure to address it. 

He sighed, “Sorry Dream, but if you were planning on spending time with me today we’ll have to reschedule. I promised Five I would show him around L’manburg, so he can settle in a little better.”

“A-ah, yeah there's always tomorrow, no worries.”

After finishing the cup of coffee he turned towards Five, who had made himself comfortable on the couch, and asked, “You ready to go?” 

Five nodded, already making his way to the door waiting for Fundy to open the door to take their leave. As the morning breeze hit them Fundy never felt more happy to walk into town. 

“About time, I felt like I was going to grow old and wilt if we waited any longer.” Five joked, causing Fundy to laugh, giving Five a gentle punch. 

Their morning may have been a bit tense and awkward but Fundy felt like the rest of the day would be just fine. He’s never felt this warm in so long.

He gently closed the door behind him, not even sparing a glance back, walking forward alongside Five.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Woah- I didn't expect so much positive feedback! Thank you so much ^^ I was really nervous when I posted this- Which is why its in anon. Maybe I'll give this work an author if there isn't to much negitive feedback. 
> 
> I also feel like I should give you guys a scheduale of how the chapters will update, so here it is: I'll update the fic whenever I hit at least 2k words. I don't wanna give really short chapters n all, but I'm also in school so the updates won't be consistent,,,
> 
> As a little tip for chapter 3, it'll prolly just be five and fundy fully able to catch up and just bond! Until next time, bye bye!


	3. Chapter 3

“L’manburgs way bigger than I thought it’d be, I knew the DSMP territory was huge but if they call L’manburg a small town I can only imagine how much land this place has conquered.” Five marveled. “But, for as big as this place is, it's not very advanced. Didn’t you mention they still just use redstone items? Do they just not use andesite alloy? Why power everything with redstone if there are much better alternatives?”

“I know! When I first arrived I had asked why they don’t just use a mechanical drill instead of mining things themselves, they looked at me like I was mad!” Fundy spoke, “And when I had told them about the inventions and contraptions I had built back at Cogchamp they called me a liar, or told me what an imagination I had.” 

This seemed to cause Five to pause turning to look at Fundy with a perplexed look. Why was he looking at him like that? 

“Fundy, do they always-”

“My ice cream shop! Oh, I forgot to show you this, look.” Fundy interrupted, grabbing Fives hand as he rushed towards the front of the aforementioned store.

“W-what?” Was all Five could say before being dragged away.

“Oh its been so long since I’ve been able to be here. Me and Ranboo built this place together.”

“Ranboo?” Five questioned.

“Ah, that's right you probably haven’t met him yet. He’s a friend of mine, an enderman hybrid. We scammed so many people here.” Fundy sighed nostalgically only to hear Five burst out laughing. Why was he laughing? He hadn’t said anything that would cause him to-, Fundy felt his face heat up and grow red as he realized what he had just said. 

“I- I mean, I-”

“I guess some things really don’t change!” Five laughed out, “Remember when we were kids and we would always steal the adults’ equipment? You always took the blame when we got caught! Or when you would pick pocket money from strangers to be able to buy food for those stray cats? You really have barely changed!” 

“Sh- Shut up! God I was such a brat back then,” Fundy felt his face grow even redder in embarrassment, “Why did you never stop me?”

“Don’t blame me! You're the one who always did it no matter what I said!”

Fundy tried to defend himself more but couldn’t stop himself from laughing any longer, erupting in laughter alongside Five as he reminisced about his childhood. Where had all the years gone by? 

It had taken another moment before they were both able to calm down. 

“God we were morons back then.” Five laughed out and Fundy couldn’t agree more. “Shall we continue the tour now?” 

“Right! I have to show you Niki’s bakery! Its nearby here, come on.” Fundy quickly turned towards the directions of Niki’s shop.

“W-wait Fundy- We’re still-” Five attempted to stop Fundy, staring at their linked hands. 

“Hm?” 

“A-ah, nevermind.” Five felt his face heat up as he gently tightened his hold on Fundys hand. 

-

As they entered Nikis they heard a small ding as they entered followed by a voice, “I’ll be right with you!”

Fundy gestured towards the counter, finally letting go of Five’s hand, as he checked out the sweets on display. 

“Hello, how may I help- oh. Fundy.” Niki murmured before her eyes landed on Five, attitude changing almost immediately, “And the traveler! 5up, right? How may I help you?” 

Five, having caught on to this attitude change, felt his smile strain as he wondered why people seemed to look down on Fundy. 

“Niki! I was just showing Five around L’manburg and I just had to take him here, your hand made cakes are the best in the whole nation.” Fundy explained, either unaware or purposely ignoring the shift. 

“I see, well, feel free to pick anything! It’ll be on the house since you are new here, next time though, you're paying full price!” She joked before gesturing towards the display case.

Five wanted to comment, wanted to ask if something had happened between the two. Wanted to ask why everyone in L’manburg seemed to doubt Fundy. He wanted to know why when he saw Fundy opened the halls he looked so alone and desperate. And why hasn’t he bumped into Wilbur yet? So many questions and yet he couldn’t bring himself to ask. Not here at least. He would, he had too, but not here. 

“I’ll just take the strawberry one.” 

“You sure? Nothing more? This free stuff is a one time thing so are you sure?” 

“Yeah, its all good. Besides, it’s better for the business if I just take one right?”

She laughed, “I suppose your right. Well then, here it is then.” She gently pulled out and packaged the cake before handing it over to Five. “Have a nice day, please come back soon!”

They both nodded, Five muttering a small “Thank you, you too” under his breath as they headed towards the door. Fundy gave a small wave goodbye while Niki looked away.

They continued to walk in silence as Five pondered his thoughts trying to connect the pieces that just wouldn’t fit. Fundy watched his friend trying to solve some unknown puzzle before sighing. 

“You’ve got questions,don’t you?” 

Five startled as he turned towards Fundy. “If you want to talk about them, I don’t want to overstep.”

“Its fine, don’t worry about it. If you wanna talk we can go to the forest, its a lot more quiet and with less people. Plus we can eat there too, I wasn’t joking when I said Niki’s handmade cakes are amazing.”

Five nodded following close behind Fundy as he let him take the lead, heading towards the forest. 

-

“So, what do you wanna know?” Fundy asked, as they entered the forest. Sitting under an oak tree, patting the space next to him inviting Five to sit next to him. 

“Wow, going right into it, huh?” Five paused looking towards Fundy with a worried look, “You sure you wanna talk about this? We can always talk another time.”

“You're worried about me though, and I don’t want you to hate my… friends just because they act weird around me.”

“Well, that settles one question. You do notice it.” 

“I’d have to be either really dumb or stupidly oblivous to not notice how they change their attitude when they talk to me. I’m surprised you caught on when you had just only met Niki.” Fundy laughed out, leaning even more onto the tree.

“She doesn't really try to hide it if I’ll be honest. She seems like a good person, so why doesn’t she like you?”

“I’m… I’m not a good person Five. You’d hate me too if you knew what I did to her, to everyone.” His voice felt so quiet, he felt tears threatening to spill.

“You don’t know that Fundy. You haven’t even told me what you’ve done. Please, Fundy, I just want to know why they treat you like that. I- I don’t want to push but, you don’t seem okay. You look tired.” Five begged, reaching out his hand to gently cup Fundy’s cheek, staring at him with worried eyes. 

“You're stupidly analytical, you know? Can’t hide anything from you.” Fundy spoke as he leaned into the touch grabbing Fives hand as he felt the tears finally spill. As he finally let himself tell his tale to another. 

He spoke of a horned man who drove his father far away from the land he had created. The way the man had given him a purpose. A journal full of insights that would be turned away when he had spent so much time collecting and moving up the ranks just for that information. The smell of a burning flag and the screams of anguish that his friend screamed as he let the flag burn under his feet. He was a traitor to everyone and a hero to none. 

He let out sobs as he held onto Five. He cried out how he had watched his friends turn away from him. How even his own father had turned him away. 

His story was far from finished yet he couldn’t bring himself to continue, crying out, asking if he had been a bad friend, if he had been in the wrong. Why had his friends left even when he was trying to help them?

Five held tightly onto his friend as he cried. How long has his friend been keeping this in? He would not let him go, they were just children when this happened, why did so many people fail to see this? How could they make a child bear a sword and fight a war? He never wished more to go back and stop him from leaving, to prevent the pain from ever happening. 

This time, though, he would not fail to protect him. He would not let him suffer in silence any longer.

Soon the tears began to dry and the sobs quieted down but their hold did not lessen. 

“Fuck- sorry I- I got snot and- and-”

“Fundy, Fundy, its fine. I can always wash it later, its fine. You just- just rest, you're probably exhausted from all that crying. I’ll keep you safe while you rest, and wake you when night falls. Don’t worry about it. We’ll talk about everything you told me when you feel better. Deep breaths Fundy, I’m right here. I won’t let you go.” Five said, trying to soothe the fox, beginning to hum a song in hopes of getting the fox to rest. Soon enough he felt the figure in his arms go limp and his breath began to even out. 

Five turned to stare at the blue sky as his hands began to play with Fundys hair, letting the information Fundy told him fully sink in. 

“Oh Fundy,” He whispered, “How long have you kept all this in?” 

He sighed as he let his eyes close, listening to the rhythm of Fundy's breathing.

“You won’t be alone anymore Funds, I promise.” 

-

The sun was beginning to set by the time Fundy woke up. Slowly prying himself from the hold Five had him in. Looking around his surroundings trying to remember the events that had happened. 

He felt a groan escape his lips as he recalled what had just happened. ‘How embarrassing’ He thought. Of course he’d break down in front of Five right when they barely had just rekindled again. He felt the body next to him stir slightly.

“Fundy?” The body slurred out.

“Hey there sleeping beauty. Thought you were supposed to be the one to wake us up.” 

This seemed to cause the masked man to jolt up, “What time is it? It can’t be too late right?,” Looking around to see the remaining rays before the sun fully sets. “Oh god, I hadn’t, I hadn’t meant to fall asleep. I just-”

Fundy began to laugh, “I was joking! I don’t mind!” He said through wheezes. Laughing harder as he saw his friend still in embarrassment.

“Stop it! I thought you were going to be mad! Not make fun of me!” Five pleaded, picking himself up, turning to the laughing figure extending a hand towards him. “Please stop laughing, it's getting late and we have to get back to your place.”

He continued to laugh as he grabbed Fives hand, lifting himself up. Eventually quieting down once they began their walk back to Fundy’s house.

“Damn, we were out for a while, huh? Hopefully Dream didn’t get worried or something now that he's here.”

“You know, I’ve been meaning to ask,” Five said in a light tone, “Who exactly is Dream? Pretty sure you two met when we weren’t able to write to each other so that leaves me in total darkness. You two roommates or something?” 

“Oh, Dreams my fiance” 

Five froze as he processed what Fundy said in his head. “W-what?”

“Me and Dream, we’re engaged.” Fundy paused turning towards his friend, “Is everything alright, Five?” 

“O-oh, Yeah everythings cool just- nothing, nevermind. Dream a lucky guy to have scored someone as amazing as you, I’m happy for you.” Fundy couldn’t name it but he felt as though something was wrong with Five as he spoke. “Guess he came back to take you on a uh, erm, a- a date. Sorry for ruining that.”

Worry began to settle in Fundy, “Five, are you alright? Is something the matter?” Reaching out towards his friend.

“Its fine, don’t worry about it!” Five waving his hands in an attempt to calm his concern, “You must be really happy to marry him, huh?” As Five began to move again, walking slowly to get Fundy to walk by his side. 

“I- Yeah, I suppose I should be.” And as silence took over Fundy had one single thought in his head as they made their way to the house.

Why wasn’t he as happy to marry Dream as he was before?

Why didn’t he feel the warmth he once had at the thought of Dream by his side?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AAAAHHHHH sorry this chapter took to long! I wasn't really feeling this chapter honestly,,, but hey its here now! Let me know what you think! I read the comments a lot and they mean so much to me ^^ 
> 
> ALSO IF YOU LIKE MY WORKS THEN I WOULD 100% RECCOMMENED CHECKING OUT CRYSTALKNIX! I'm a big fan of their works
> 
> Oh and uh,, No longer anonymous so I'll prolly reply to comments now ^^ Thanks for checking this out!! Means a lot

**Author's Note:**

> This is all purely fiction, please do not ship real people, thats very weird. So, none of this is canon (If that wasn't obvious) and just a person headcannon that I wanted to play out. There is not enough content on 5up, and not enough fundy-centric fics and i am here to fix that


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